Our guide to science

First published date September 26 2013Amended date October 31 2014

Do you find yourself wondering about the other forms of life outside earth? Would you rather spend time in your school lab, experimenting and dissecting, than playing with colours and art? Have you already decided to pursue science as a career? Science is more than white lab coats and expensive microscopes – science is a world ready to be discovered and if you’re thrilled at figuring something out that no one has done before, then studying science could be just right for you! Expand your knowledge of the universe, conduct investigations, develop and be at the forefront of new technologies, and treat diseases – there’s so much to participate in when you study science.

Are you the next Stephen Hawking?

Whether you want to be a brilliant theoretical physicist like Hawking, a pioneering researcher and chemist like Marie Curie or an engineer and futurist like Nikola Tesla, studying science will enable you to develop solutions to real problems, creating a positive impact on the world. Choose from all sorts of areas like agricultural science, biology, chemistry, life sciences, physiology, zoology and more.

A Level

There are lots of science subjects that you can study for GCSEs, A Levels, BTECS and other short courses. These qualifications will provide a solid foundation for studying science at a higher level. It’s an ideal starting point for studying subjects like astronomy, biology, chemistry, environmental science and physics. During the course, you’ll develop important scientific concepts and skills, carry out practical work, record observations and measurements, and make sense of scientific information presented in books and on the computer. Most of the subjects will require you to have some basic mathematical skills and knowledge of basic scienctific concepts.

Stem cell research anyone?

We’ve heard about organ regeneration in mice, stem cell trials for multiple sclerosis and the study of genetic research to eliminate faulty genes and diseases. They used to be stuff that you’d see in sci-fi movies or read in fictional books, but today, they’re all pioneering advances in medical science and if you wish to be part of a medical breakthrough, getting an undergraduate or even a postgraduate (if you’ve decided what to specialise in) qualification, may be the right step. Pick from biology, chemistry, human biology and life sciences to learn all about diagnosis and the monitoring of human diseases, molecules and cells, and biochemistry.

Save the Maldives!

The world is undergoing a lot of environmental changes and as a result, may see the disappearance of the Maldives and some of the world’s endangered species in The Great Barrier Reef. To this extent, conservation and understanding the environment are at the top of the agenda, making the study of earth sciences, ecology, geography, marine biology and natural history, some of the few popular subjects to study.

Science is life

We make science-based decisions every day. Hence, when you learn science, you generally become more informed of your choices – from what to eat and which products to use for the sake of health and the environment. You’ll also develop skills in research, problem solve and apply what’s been learned, build on your ability to ask questions, make sense of the world around us, collect information and experiment with ideas.

Interesting fact…

If you run really fast, you gain weight. Not permanently, or it would make a mockery of diet and exercise plans, but momentarily, and only a tiny amount. Light speed is the speed limit of the universe. So if something is travelling close to the speed of light, and you give it a push, it can’t go very much faster. But you’ve given it extra energy, and that energy has to go somewhere. Where it goes is mass. According to relativity, mass and energy are equivalent. So the more energy you put in, the greater the mass becomes. This is negligible at human speeds – Usain Bolt is not noticeably heavier when running than when still – but once you reach an appreciable fraction of the speed of light, your mass starts to increase rapidly.

· The male giraffe will continuously head-butt the female in the bladder until she urinates. The male then tastes the pee and that helps it determine whether the female is ovulating. If she is, then it’s business time!

· A full head of human hair is strong enough to support 12 tons.

· Dead people can get goose bumps.

· Polar bears are nearly undetectable by infrared cameras, due to their transparent fur.